It may well indeed be, Derek. It's not clear from TT's description whether the "Rossendale coco-nutters" were the originals of the present Bacup dancers, or whether there were other teams/troupes in the Rossendale Valley. I was just curious, I suppose. Our band plays the "Rochdale Coc-nut Dance" but those dancers, if there were any, have long gone.

Interestingly, the description doesn't mention any blacking up of the dancers, which would surely have been distinctive at the time. And I noted that the musical accompaniment was a concertina. Shame TT didn't mention the tunes, though I doubt he would have known what they were.